-Down to Earth A global report focuses on sustainable agricultural growth, increased wages and creation of off-farm jobs to bring about rapid rural development. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) report says economic growth alone is not enough to eliminate rural poverty, particularly in the Asia and Pacific region. “The rapid economic growth in the region has come at a cost. Urbanisation has led to a wide income gap between rural and...

-Livemint.com Healthy, living soil is the most essential element in ensuring food security. Yet it is often ignored by policy planners The global population, which stood at 6.1 billion in 2000, is estimated to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. India has 2.4% of the world’s arable land and more than 17% of the global population. Meeting the demand for fibre and food to feed this growing population...

-Livemint.com We don’t know enough about the socio-economic status of different caste groups, and our political class doesn’t want us to know Over the past couple of years, one Indian state after another has been on the boil because of caste-based agitations. The latest state to be engulfed in caste conflict is Maharashtra, where a stir by the dominant caste of Marathas seems to have led other backward classes (OBCs) and...

-PTI Washinton: Research compares impact of dung cake burning versus the burning of municipal solid waste on browning of Taj Mahal and on the health of people living nearby. Burning of municipal solid waste in the vicinity of the iconic Taj Mahal is significantly contributing to the discolouring of the world heritage monument, an Indo-American research team has found. The research compared the impact of dung cake burning versus the burning of municipal...

-Hindustan Times New Delhi: The crackdown on black money is not over. With the scheme for voluntary disclosure of unaccounted for wealth now closed, tax officials have launched a drive to unearth hidden incomes and are looking at transactions carried out beyond a six-year ceiling under existing rules, sources said. “The tax department can scan transactions older than six years by invoking clause 197C of the Finance Act, 2016. This clause was introduced...